GamerNode: Latest Game and Console News

November NPD numbers "exceeded" Sony's expectation...

It seems that fortune is continuing to smile upon the PS3. After Sony's victory at Metacritic's Platform Power Rankings list, the just-released November NPD sales figures have "exceeded expectations" for Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

"In November, PS3 was the only hardware console to see any growth when compared to last November, experiencing an 88% lift and a 122% increase from the previous month. Metacritic also unveiled this week its 2009 Game Platform Power Rankings, in which PS3 titles topped the charts on overall game quality, tallying up five of the top ten best reviewed games in 2009 and with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves taking best reviewed game of the year."

Tretton remained optimistic about the future with this comment:

"The sheer appetite and inte...

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Mass Effect 2 celebrity voice cast announced

BioWare and Electronic Arts have announced their celebrity voice cast for the highly anticipated Mass Effect 2. Headlining the group will be Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Martin Sheen ("The West Wing").

The rest of the cast includes Seth Green ("Robot Chicken"), 2009 Emmy Award-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo ("House of Saddam"), Adam Baldwin ("Chuck", "Firefly"), Yvonne Strahovski ("Chuck"), Keith David ("Crash"), Michael Dorn ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica"), Michael Hogan ("Battlestar Galactica") and Carrie-Anne Moss ("The Matrix").

"Emotionally engaging narrative is a key design pillar for BioWare, and the top-notch voice talent in Mass Effect 2 helps drive this goal," said BioWare co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka. "Credible, powerful personalities are...

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PS3 claims top spot in annual Platform Power Ranki...

Review database website Metacritic has employed their unique rating aggregation system to generate the first annual "Platform Power Rankings" list that arranges the various video gaming platforms by the highest rated titles.

Sony's PS3 console managed to edge out both the PC and Xbox 360 to nab the top spot on the list with a median Metascore of 72.0% and only 7% of "Bad" rated games.

The PS3 has shown a remarkable strength during the course of 2009 with top-notch titles such as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Street Fighter IV being some of the high-scoring games that bolstered the console's position on the list.

The Xbox 360 saw a slightly higher amount of game releases (51 over the PS3); however, only 7 of them scored "Great", while the PS3 had 10 titles that received the highest rating.

The...

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David Jaffe vs. journalism

Like an ancient Jedi Master of old slipping through the fog of the past to return to the light, David Jaffe has made his presence known on the Internet once more. Jaffe supplies us with yet another of his classic rants, but with a twist -- journalism has gone and done him wrong.

As the creative brainpower behind the hugely successful God of War, Jaffe had transformed into a sort of digital hermit after renouncing the Internet and its evil ways, yanking his Twitter and blog websites due to dis-proportioned comments and gratuitous Internet trollery.

After a recent diatribe on the absurdity of the Australia's handling of video games, it seemed that Jaffe had returned to his post as a rally against all things confounding in the video game world, and life could resume at a normal pace.

Yet, out of...

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Smithsonian to open 'The Art of Video Games' exhib...

Video games will be getting recognition as an art form from the US's most well-known museum in 2012. The Smithsonian American Art Museum will be host to "The Art of Video Games" exhibit from March 6, 2012 to September 9, 2012 and will attempt to be "the first to examine comprehensively the evolution of video games themselves as an artistic medium."

The exhibit will feature game footage, prints of in-game screenshots, interviews with artists and game developers, historic game consoles, and even a selection of game consoles to play.

"Video games use images, actions, and player participation to tell stories and engage their audiences," reads the Smithsonian site. "In the same way as film, animation, and performance, they can be considered a compelling and influential form of narrative art."

The ...

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Japanese Modern Warfare 2 censored

The infamous "No Russian" mission from Activision and Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is getting even more attention as the Japanese version of the mission has been censored.

In the mission, the player is told, "Remember, no Russian." This means, "Do not speak Russian," as it is a small nugget of plot for the rest of the game. In the Japanese version, the line is localized as, "Kill 'em, the Russians." The change doesn't just take out a subtle piece of the plot, but it tells players in Japan to do exactly the opposite of what they will be allowed to do.

If players of the "No Russian" mission in Japan fire at and kill any of the civilians in the scene, the game will go to an automatic "game over." This is unlike the western version of the game, where players are given the optio...

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Dead Space 2 Announced, Issac to grace Game Inform...

We all knew it was coming and thankfully we are getting our first look into the sure to be horrifying Dead Space 2. Game Informer will be featuring a 10 page spread on the game and are treating us to a nice showing of their January cover, which shows Issac in decidely cool new threads.

The new suit looks more form fitting and has less parts than the original one, which looked like it has pieces of plastic pasted to odd parts. Armor is in key places(like the chest area and gloves), and his boots look to have thrusters on them, maybe implying some sort of full 3-D zero gravity maneuverability instead of the jump pad based segments from the first game. I can already picture flying around space segments blasting Necromorphs and fearing for my life.

Dead Space 2 has no release date of yet.

[Game ...

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Spike VGAs to go without a host

For the first time in its short existence, Spike TV's Video Game Awards will be without a host when it goes live this Saturday. The show will have plenty of celebrity guest presenters, but will feature no overall host on December 12 as decided by the channel itself.

The guest celebrity presenters will include Jake Gyllenhaal (The Prince in the upcoming Prince of Persia film adaptation), Kristen Bell (Lucy Stillman in the Assassin's Creed series), Felicia Day (Codex from "The Guild", Penny from "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"), Tony Hawk, Tricia Helfner (Veronica Dare in Halo 3: ODST, Number Six in "Battlestar Galactica"), Alyssa Milano (Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn in Ghostbusters: The Video Game), Zachary Quinto (Spock in Star Trek, Sylar in "Heroes"), Mike Tyson, and Olivia Wilde (Dr. Hadley/Thirte...

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Leaked Famitsu FFXIII review gives near-perfect sc...

I'm not well versed in the credibility of Asian video game magazine review scores, but it seems that the incoming Final Fantasy XIII has passed with flying colors according to the latest issue of Famitsu.

A forum user over at Hong Kong website HKGolden.com was apparently able to snag a copy of Famitsu containing the review, and the verdict is thus (incoming disjointed English):

10/10 Beautiful graphics and excellent story. It will be accomplished without force, to satisfy a sense of fierce play the game together, the achievements made a complete system to evolve. Even without a major vice, this film is crystallized with intertwining stories and games at this stage is located at the top RPG's, definitely feel worth it.

9/10 Combat damage or have trouble seeing the display o...

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Quantum Theory is now cross-platform

Regaled as the PS3's answer to the gigantic Gears of War franchise, Team Tachyon's upcoming Quantum Theory would supply the action and breathtaking scenery of GoW as an exclusive title for PS3 gamers. No longer -- Tecmo, the game's publisher, has announced that Quantum will be heading for the Xbox 360 as well.

The news may not cause such a stir as Quantum is barely a blip on the radar in terms of tracking popularity. Instead, Tecmo's decision ultimately becomes yet another nail in the coffin for console exclusivity and game integrity; publishers performing an about-face from their previous statements is nothing new, but the results may be pretty dire in the long run.

Quantum Theory is a third-person action game that features a scenery motif similar to GoW's decor, along with conveniently pla...

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"Western Game" label "Terribly Discriminatory" acc...

Square Enix is trying to convince the Japanese public that games from the West can actually be good and shouldn't be shunned. Company president Yoichi Wada spoke out about this in a recent interview on Japanese TV about Square Enix and Modern Warfare 2, which the company published.

"Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (Western games) with a terribly discriminatory meaning," said Wada. "I'd like them to try it once. If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is."

The term "youge-" is used in Japan to separate native and foreign games that have been perceived until recently to have little to no interest amongst Japanese gamers. "Game" (ゲーム）refers to video games. "Youge-" (洋ゲー) means something diffe...

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Guinness Gamer's Edition 2010 release date announc...

Guinness World Records has announced the release date of their latest Gamer's Edition book, the third in the series, for 2010. It will hit store shelves on January 4 in the US and January 21 in the UK.

The book is filled with gaming records, reviews, and more. According to the cover, it was also quoted as "A must-have for fans of gamering" by Kotaku.

According to Kotaku, that quote was on a piece for the 2009 edition. Michael Fahey of Kotaku then wrote in an article on the newest edition, "It's still perfect bathroom reading book for gamers...Let's see them use that quote."

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Guild Wars 2 previews its five races

ArenaNet and NCSoft have released a new video and press release regarding the five playable races of their upcoming MMORPG Guild Wars 2. The video provides information on each race regarding their home cities, heroes, and their philosophy on battle.

The video focuses on a group known as Destiny's Edge, a multi-race group consisting of the greatest hero each race has to offer. Each character discusses their race's philosophy on culture and battle as they march toward the camera.

It seems that NCSoft and ArenaNet aimed to get top voice talent for the game. Troy Baker (Fullmetal Alchemist) voices the human defender Logan Thackeray, Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop, God of War) as charr warrior Rytlock Brimstone, Jocelyn Blue (Invader Zim) as the norn Eir Stegalkin, Felicia Day (The Guild) as Zojja the ...

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inFAMOUS receives price cut, free DLC

Casually sliding in with the host of gaming deals this holiday season, Sucker Punch's inFAMOUS for the PS3 has received a price cut down to $39.99 along with a brand spankin' new superpower that would make Doc Brown shed tears of joy.

It might seem a little strange that inFAMOUS is getting so much attention lately, but the reason mostly involves its stellar performance both in sales and in upholding the PS3's integrity as a console.

You may remember an earlier report about Sucker Punch's trepidation on developing the game, but that didn't seem to faze the game exceeding expectations when it was released earlier this year.

According to the PlayStation Blog, the game has sold rather well, accruing nearly 1.2 million units sold as of October 2009.

The new DLC, titled "Gigawatt Blades", endows Col...

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Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge demo coming to...

Even though we received Gran Turismo 5 Prologue last year, don't forget that we are still owed a real Gran Turismo 5, and a demo of said game looks to be coming out in the form of a competition. Sony has announced that Gran Turismo Time Trial Challenge will be coming to the PSN Store on Dec.17. The demo is powered by Gran Turismo 5's new physics engine, tech that is presumably from the upcoming game, and will have players competing for the best lap times to win a trip to the Indianapolis 500. European players will be competing for a chance to enter the GT Academy, a program that grooms them to race in the European GT4 Cup in a real Nissan 370Z.

I think we got shafted in the prize department.

Players will have access to both a tuned and stock Nissan 370Z in the demo, each car including thei...

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Analyst: Xbox Live could get price drop

In a new episode of the popular Bonus Round series, market analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that the time is ripe for Microsoft to lower the subscription costs of their Xbox Live service.

Citing the impending OnLive service acting as a substitute for console systems as the biggest reason for the change (along with the free-to-use PlayStation Network acting as competition), Pachter anticipates that Microsoft will compensate by lowering Xbox Live's Gold service to around $10 per month -- chump change to some, but then again, Pachter has been known to make some pretty crazy presumptions in the past.

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Sony's PlayStation turns 15

It was 15 years ago on this day, December 3, 1994, that Sony stepped in and changed the world of gaming forever. That was the day that the company released its first console, the original PlayStation.

The console almost came to be as a Nintendo product in partnership with Sony. However Nintendo did not believe that CD-based, or disc-based in general, consoles would be able to prosper in the video game market and cut the project.

Intent on not being left out, Sony took the project on for itself. When it was combined with an interest in hosting games with more mature content for the times, the PlayStation took off like a rocket. Sony hasn't looked back since.

The console's successor, the PlayStation 2, is still the highest-selling console ever. And while the PlayStation 3 has not met the same l...

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New Javelin glitch for MW2 crippling online play

It seems that Infinity Ward just can't get a break these days -- with the Call of Duty community still in uproar about shoddy network connections and rampaging hackers, there might be enough evidence to suggest that the beleaguered developer didn't provide enough TLC for the Modern Warfare 2's launch.

Now, a new glitch has surfaced within online play that transforms players into suicide bombers; with some weapon-swap trickery involved, a player possessing a Javelin (or any launcher whatsoever) has the means to become a walking grenade.

Rather than elaborate, observe the video below:

The bug is causing gigantic headaches by mostly allowing players to instantly conjure up Martyrdom. Thankfully, Infinity Ward is aware of the issue and will include a fix with the next major patch release. 

[PlayS...

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EA officially announces Medal of Honor revival

Electronic Arts has officially revived its classic Medal of Honor franchise, the first-person shooter war game that ruled the genre before Call of Duty arrived on the scene. The game will move away from the WWII-era that the franchise was known for, instead focusing on modern warfare in Afghanistan that EA has promised to be "the most authentic modern war experience."

Titled simply Medal of Honor and having a fall 2010 release date, the game will focus on the relatively unknown Tier 1 Operator that serves directly under the National Command Authority. Developers have worked closely with Tier 1 Operators from the US Special Operations Community since the earliest stages of the game's development.

"When we first set out to reinvent Medal of Honor, we wanted to stay true to its roots of authent...

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Red Dead Redemption gets release date

Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive have finally given an official release date for upcoming western shooter Red Dead Redemption. The game will hit retailers in the US on April 27, with the international release quickly following on April 30.

"This is our vision of the American West: beautiful, bloody and action-packed. The game is a true epic, and has been developed with the same production values and attention to detail we put into all our projects," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Red Dead Redemption represents another milestone for us in the development of open world games."

Red Dead Redemption will be available for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 consoles.

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